R.T. Kendall's Blog, page 15
April 23, 2013
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March 18, 2013
Elijah 3
Running Scared – Despite God’s Oath
One would have thought that after the astounding display of God’s power and glory on Mount Carmel, Elijah would be so set in his faith that he would never fear or doubt again.
Yes. One would have thought.
But after the victory over Baal and the restoration of rain to the land – as Elijah had boldly promised – we see another side to Elijah: a man scared to death and running for his life. And who scared him? Jezebel the wife of King Ahab.
In a previous blog I wrote about the oath of God. But people also swear oaths. When they do they swear by the “greater” (Heb.6:16). People will say “I swear by God” or “I swear by mother’s grave” – anything to convince another that they are telling the absolute truth. The president takes the oath with his right hand uplifted and his left hand on the Bible. Why? So that all will be convinced he will fulfill his vow. God of course could not swear by the greater so he “swore by himself”(Heb.6:13).
It turns out that Jezebel swore an oath that she would get vengeance upon Elijah for what he did to the prophets of Baal. What was the “greater” to which Jezebel appealed in order to convince people she meant what she said: “May the gods deal with me, be it ever so severely, if by this time tomorrow I do no make your life like that of one of them” – a word she sent by messenger to Elijah (1 Kings 19:2).
You would have thought that Elijah would laugh it off – as he sneered at the prophets of Baal. But not this time. Elijah was afraid and ran for his life (1 Kings 19:3). This goes to show two things: (1) Even though Elijah experienced the oath of God with regard to rain and the fire falling on Mount Carmel it did not spill over into his personal life and sense of safety; and (2) that Elijah was still the same human being we have seen in previous blogs. He was a man “just like us” (Jas.5:17).
He ran a long way. All the way to Beersheba in Judah – about as far away as you could get from Jezebel and still be in Israel. Elijah was taking no chances. He knew she meant what she said. He thought he was a goner. Wrong.
Jezebel’s vow was not kept. The Bible warns of making a vow – which carries virtually the same weight as the oath – and not fulfilling it (Numb.30:2). But not keeping one’s oath would not worry a godless Jezebel. Sadly it did not seem to bother King Saul either – who swore to his son Jonathan that he would not harm David (a vow he broke soon afterwards – 1 Sam.19:6-10). Saw had become “yesterday’s man” and one of the evidences of being yesterday’s man or woman is that you have no integrity.
The eventual result of all this was Elijah being emotionally exhausted. Even apart from Jezebel’s threat he might have been exhausted anyway from the ordeal at Carmel. Dr. James Dobson has shown that many a minister thinks the devil is getting at them on Mondays when it is in all likelihood merely the loss of adrenalin! If so, imagine the depletion of adrenalin Elijah must have experienced after Carmel. And following that – Jezebel.
So he was a tired man. When we are extremely tired we say things we may mean, yes, but which are not always true. “I’ve had enough . . . Take my life” (1 Kings 19:4). I recently experienced the worst jet lag of my whole life. I have crossed the Atlantic nearly fifty times in the last ten years and have crossed the Pacific three times. But for some reason my recent trip to the Middle East and to India found me utterly depleted of energy and rational thinking!
The lovely thing is, God knows these things. “All at once an angel touched him” (1 Kings 19:5). How kind God is. He does not desert us when we are afraid. Or tired.
RT
You can read much more about this in my New book: These are the days of Elijah available at a discount for this month.
March 13, 2013
Elijah 2
Elijah – How Come Such Authority?
Whatever enabled Elijah to say to King Ahab, “As the Lord, the God of Israel, lives, whom I serve, there will be neither dew nor rain in the next few years except at my word” (1 Kings 17:1). How often do you read about such boldness? However did Elijah know to speak like that? Would he not have lived in fear day and night that it might rain after he said that to Ahab, and then his word would have no credibility at all? I think I would have been a nervous wreck if I made a claim like that!
But there is more. How could Elijah have such calmness when he said to the prophets of Baal that the “god who answers by fire – he is God”. Not only that; while the false prophets feverishly pleaded, “O Baal, answer us!”, watch Elijah! He is having the time of his life! He pokes fun at them. “Shout louder . . . Perhaps he is deep in thought, or busy, or traveling. Maybe he is sleeping and must be awakened” (1 Kings 18:22,27). How could Elijah be so relaxed? So sure
The answer is: God had sworn an oath to him.
God swore an oath to Abraham (Gen.22:16ff). Up until then it had been one promise after another to Abraham that his seed would be innumerable – like the “dust of the earth” (Gen.13:16) or the stars in the sky (Gen.15:5). Abraham believed these words but also felt a need to make these promises happen – as when he slept with Hagar (Gen.16:2). But once God swore an oath to Abraham he was “set” – utterly and totally convinced that his seed would be like the sand of the seashore.
What made the difference? Is not the promise true? Is it not valid? Why would one need the oath to be utterly and absolutely convinced? It is because the oath is stronger. It puts an end to all argument (Heb.616). When the oath is sworn no room for doubting is left. These two unchangeable things – promise and oath (Heb.6:18) – are equally true but not equally convincing to us. God sometimes accommodates us by swearing an oath to us, and when he does we know that we know. It is an assurance that comes by the immediate and direct witness of the Holy Spirit. It was what was promised to the Hebrew Christians (Heb.6:9ff). I shall deal with this in detail this summer at The Cove (Billy Graham Training Center in Asheville, NC). I also deal with this in detail in my latest book These Are the Days of Elijah.
My point is this. No man or woman on earth could speak as Elijah did had he not heard from God at what I would call the oath level. You have two unchangeable things: promise and oath. Both are true but the promise tends to be conditional: this is true upon the condition “if”. But there is no condition attached to the oath. When God swears an oath it is going to happen, like it or not. When God swears this to a person he or she KNOWS what will happen.
That is what Elijah had. That is how he could, almost casually, say to Ahab: no rain unless I say so. That is why he could be so calm on Mount Carmel and even tease the prophets of Baal. He knew his word was infallibly true.
Have you ever had God to swear an oath to you? It may come with regard to an answer to prayer (1 John 5:15; Mark 11:22-24), to full assurance of salvation (Heb.11:22) or infallible understanding of what is true (Col.2:2).
Ask God to give you this. He did with Elijah – an ordinary man (Jas.5:17). Why not you?
RT
You can read much more about this in my New book: These are the days of Elijah available at a discount for this month.
March 4, 2013
Elijah 1
Elijah – SO Human
When I began my first series of sermons at Westminster Chapel for some reason I chose Jonah as the book I wanted to work through. When asked, Why Jonah?, I always replied: Because I am Jonah. I identified with Jonah from start to finish – from his being swallowed by a great fish to his self-righteous sulking at the end.
As it happens my last series of sermons at the Chapel was on Elijah. And guess what – surprise, surprise – I identify with Elijah too, only more so. I refer not to his anointing or his extraordinary confrontation with the prophets of Baal and the miraculous fire falling from heaven. I can’t think of any person who can match that. I refer to Elijah’s humanness. He was – oh, SO human. James says he was “just like us” (James.5:17 – “a man of like passions as we are’ – KJV). James wants to show that God uses not only obedient men and women but also ordinary people.
Keep in mind that Elijah epitomized the prophetic dimension of the Old Testament. When Jesus was transfigured before his disciples, who appeared with him? Moses – representing the Law, or the Word; and Elijah – representing the prophets, or the Spirit. Whereas one can go through the life of Moses and see how human he too was, with the great Elijah there is an undoubted and obvious frailty in him with which all of us can surely identify.
There are a number of things that (to me) stand out regarding the person Elijah. First, he took himself too seriously. He claimed to be the “only one of the Lord’s prophets left”. (1 Kings 18:22). Elijah was utterly wrong to say it or think it. He surely knew better. He had just been with Obadiah a day or two before! What about those hundred prophets Obadiah had hidden in caves (1 Kings 18:4)? But Elijah was so full of himself and so insensitive that he did not recognize anyone else as being valid. He had just been with Obadiah who had risked his own life to hide one hundred true prophets in caves. It was almost as though Elijah were showing contempt for anyone but himself! What selfishness! What self-centeredness! Worst of all, Elijah really thought it! He repeated it later when in his depression and tiredness by the broom tree he said, “I am the only one left” (1 Kings 19:10). Wrong again.
This encourages me. I will come clean with you. I think one of my greatest problems throughout my ministry of nearly sixty years has been to take myself too seriously.
What does it mean to take oneself too seriously? First, you magnify your importance. Second, you want to make sure you get the credit for what you do.
Third, you are too insensitive and oblivious to other people God may be using who may or may not have the platform and recognition you have. I have said for years that at the Judgment Seat of Christ the greatest rewards will be given out primarily to those who had little or no profile on earth but were equally faithful to God’s dear cause.
On Mount Carmel – right in the middle of Elijah confronting the false prophets when saying “I alone am left”, God might have said, “STOP! I now call off the whole proceeding, Elijah. You are certainly NOT the only prophet left. How dare you say that. I cannot use you now. Sorry”. But God did not call off the proceedings. He let Elijah carry on. It would be some time later when God would sort out Elijah.
I don’t like to think how I have taken myself so seriously over the years. It must have made the angels blush. But God continued to use me. In my old age he has patiently whispered to me that I am not so important after all.
RT
You can read much more about this in my New book: These are the days of Elijah available at a discount for this month.
February 28, 2013
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